Differences
The differences between the games are minor, different evil teams, different Pokemon.

Ruby
Team Magma
Red Orb
The game cartridge is Red, and has Groudon on it.
These Pokemon are only in Ruby:
Seedot
Nuzleaf
Shiftry
Zangoose
Solrock
Groudon
Mawile

Sapphire
Team Aqua
Blue Orb
The game cartridge is Blue, and has Kyogre on it.
These Pokemon are only in Sapphire:
Sapphire
Lotad
Lombre
Ludicolo
Seviper
Lunatone
Kyogre
Sableye

Thanks to The Pika Club for this infomation.Trainers Card
In Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire, your Trainer Card has different colours which change depending on how far you are in the game. Each time you receive a star, your card changes colour. It starts off green, but you can work your way up through bronze, copper, silver and gold.
There is a total of 5 known obtainable stars. To get a star, you must meet certain requirements.

Theese are:
Beat the Elite 4
Capture more than 200 Pokémon
Beat 50 trainers in the Battle Tower
Fill the art museum in Lilycove with paintings of your Pokémon
Battle and defeat all 70 trainers in the game
Safari Zone
The Safari Zone, first introduced in Red/Blue, was a place where you could catch lots of very rare Pokémon availible no-where else. It was absent in Gold/Silver and now in Ruby/Sapphire it's back. Just less exciting. In fact, I think the only two Pokémon it has now that you can't catch anywhere else is Pikachu and Girafarig. It's seems the designers just added it to dump in some old Pokémon now, it contains none of the new Ruby/Sapphire monsters.

The Safari Zone is east of Lilycove City. Go in and pay the 500 credits to get in and you will recieve 30 Safari balls. The whole thing is much the same as the Safari Zone in Red/Blue, but with a new feature - Pokéblocks. Instead of offering food, you now offer Pokéblocks. You can still throw stones at the Pokémon though. Also, there are now "Pokéblock feeders" wherein you place a Pokéblock in feeder (which are placed in the middle of grassy patches) and your chances of running into a Pokémon are increased. Once you've ran into a wild Pokémon, all you can do is try and coax it with Pokéblocks and throw Safari balls at it, you can't battle it to weaken it. Good luck!

The Safari Zone is divided up into four main areas: northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest. You begin in the south eastern area. The northern areas require a bike. You need both bikes to actually explore everywhere, so you'll need to come back again.

Trainer's Eyes
Replacing the mobile phone from G/S/C is the Pokénav which comes with an option with a rather unusual name: Trainer's Eyes. When the Pokénav flashes, you'll know a trainer wants to battle you again. Here is a list of all the trainers and their locations:

Trick House
The Trick House is located north of Mauville City on route 110. Inside is the Trick Master who will set you all sorts of challenges. For every challenge you complete you will be given a reward. The first thing you must do before you can begin each challenge is to find the Trick Master. His hiding locations are also explained below.

Challenge 1Hiding place: Under the deskReward: Rare Candy

You will need the HM Cut for this challenge, as well as some battle-ready Pokémon. The objective is to cut down the trees to receive the scroll. There is an Orange Mail located to your right but that is optional. Go up two trees then right, north, right. The scroll is right there, though you will need to battle someone first. Head back to the left hand side of the room, go all the way up and all the way right to the door.

Challenge 2Hiding place: Tree on the rightReward: Timer Ball

You need to have beaten Wattson to be able to do this challenge. Head towards the first open button and push it. Cross over the now-covered hole. Head to the next button, press it and walk over the hole. Do likewise twice and you should be able to locate the scroll and the door. An easy challenge.

Challenge 3Hiding place: DresserReward: Hard Stone

You will need Rock Smash for this challenge. This challenge is fairly difficult to explain but the objective is to open the doors to get to the scroll and main door. Good luck.

Challenge 4Hiding place: Left windowReward: Smoke Ball

You will need Strength for this challenge and you will be required to have defeated Norman before you can take it. Push the left boulder up one. Now walk around and push the middle boulder down. Move the third boulder to the right. There's an optional Mech Mail here, but you'll have to fight a trainer for it. Next push the boulder right one space and once again you have an optional Pokémon battle. Go around the next boulder and down. Do NOT push the boulder down lest you wish to start over! Go right and push the boulder down. Go up and push the boulder up 5 spaces. Go left to find the scroll. Push the middle boulder right to access the door.

Challenge 5Hiding place: Tree on the leftReward: TM12 Taunt

You need to have beaten Winona to be able to do this challenge. This challenge is a quiz, so here are the answers:

One of these Pokemon is not found on Route 103. Which is it? - Nincada

In Prof. Birch's bag, there were three Pokemon. Which one was at the right? -
Mudkip

Sell one Escape Rope and buy an Antidote. How much money remains? - 175

One of these Pokemon is not of the Grass type. Which is it? - Nincada

The Devon Researcher was looking for what Pokemon in Petalburg Woods? - Shroomish

Do one Full Heal and Great Ball cost more than one Revive? - They will cost less.

In Dewford Hall, were there more men or women? - Men

How many Bikes does Rydel have on display outside his cycle shop? - 8

Which Pokemon was offered for a trade at the Pokemon Trainer's School? - Seedot

Rustboro Gym Leader Roxanne used a Geodude. Was it male or female? - Female

How many people give you Berries at the Pretty Petal flower shop? - 1

The first Trainer in Dewford Gym was male or female? - Female

One of these Pokemon uses Scratch. Which one is it? - Nincada

Which costs more? Three Poke Balls or one Super Potion? - Super Potion

How many signs are there in Lilycove City? - 8

You may not get all these questions, but those should cover all the ones that could pop up.

Challenge 6Hiding place: CupboardReward: Magnet

Push the door left, go around and walk up. Go right and then push the first door left again. Go up through two doors. Push the lower door right , then go right through the upper door and push the lower one back down. Go up through the next two doors

Thanks to UPNetwork for this infomation.Southern Island InformationThis is a simple page about the Southern Island, because I have been recieving many emails about it. Southern Island is very small, and because of that it does not show up on your map. To get there, you need an Eon Ticket. Ways you can get the Eon Ticket:

At special events, such as at the Pokemon Center in NYC
Using the E-Reader card which came with issue #173 of Nintendo Power
Or by Swapping Data with someone that already has it.

Please note that unless you do something like this (or use a cheating device, which I do not advice), the Eon Ticket cannot be obtained through normal in-game methods.

About the Eon Ticket
Once you get the Eon Ticket, talk to your father in Petalburg gym. Also note that you must have beaten him to do this. He will tell you a letter arrived for you and that you must go to Lilycove. Once there, you show it to the lady at the port and she will bring out the Captain. He tells you that you don't know what exactly you'll find on an unexplored island such as that.

Southern Island
Once you get there, there is not much space to look around. You will enter a forest and see some water scattered around with something that looks like an egg. Once you talk to the egg-shaped thing, the Latios or Latias which is not in your game, will fight you at level 50. However, be aware that you can only fight Latios/Latias once. In addition to fighting the one which is not in your game, it will have a special item attached to it if you catch it. It will have a Soul Dew, which increase Latios, or Latias's Special Attack and Special Defense by 1.5x if it is attached to it in battle!

Pokerus
Getting the Pokerus is random. In Gold and Silver, you had a 1 in 21845 chance of this happening. The odds of this happening have probably increased in RuSa. The sound of a 'virus' may seem like it will harm your Pokemon. It will actually not. It will increase your Effort Value by 1.5. What does that mean? In simple terms, your Pokemon will get alot stronger, faster. This will not make them stronger than normal. It just means they will reach higher stats without having to train as much. They will still get the same EXP however.

FAQ:Question: How do I get the Pokerus?Answer: It is random. To get it, you will encounter a wild Pokemon with it, who will then give it to you, however you will not know that they have it. Nurse Joy will inform you if you get it. There are no areas that have a higher chance of finding it.

Question: Where do I get the Pokerus?Answer: As I said before, there is no set location for the Pokerus. Any Pokemon in any location may have it. Think of find the Pokerus as finding a shiney Pokemon. It can happen at any time, just do not run away from battles. If you run away, you will not get the virus. So in conclusion, the Pokerus is entirely random.

Question: How long does this last?Answer: On midnight of the 4th day, the virus will not be able to spread anymore. Meaning that they will still have its effects, but they cannot spread it. Any Pokemon inside a box will still have it forever.

Question: How can you spread the Pokérus?Answer: First have a Pokemon on your team with it. Spreading does not occur in boxes. Then go out to battle some wild Pokemon. If you KO the Pokemon, meaning you do not run away, there will be a 1/3 chance that it will be spread to the Pokemon next to it. Making a level also helps to increase the chance that it will spread.

Question: Can I breed the Pokérus? My egg hatched with it!Answer: You cannot breed the Pokérus. Having a parent with the virus will not give it to the kid. The reason you egg hatched with it is because it was spread like any other way. As an egg, it will not say if it has the virus or not, however it can get it. You just will not know until it hatches.

What is Needed:
• Two Gameboy Advance, SP, or Player systems
• One Gameboy Advance Link Cable
• A copy of POKéMON Ruby or Sapphire
• One Nintendo E-Reader
• A Battle-e, Enigma berry, or Eon Ticket card

How to Activate:
• You must have beaten at least the first 5 gyms.
• Go to the POKéMON Center in Petalburg City and talk to the person standing next to the compute.
• When he asks for a profile, enter "MYSTERY EVENT IS EXCITING."
• After that, save, and restart your GBA by turning the power off and then on.
• Now the option for Mystery Event will be seen in the main menu under New Game.

Using the e-Cards:
• Place the E-Reader in one GBA and turn it on, then do the same for your R/S game pak on the second GBA
• Connect the purple end of the Link Cable into the GBA with your game pak and the other end into the E-Reader
• On the E-Reader go to Communication -> To GBA
• On your game go into the Mystery Event option
• Hit the A button on each system and wait until they are connected
• Once that's done, slide an e-Card through the reader and it will send the date to your game

What's Left:
If you loaded an Enigma berry or Eon ticket card, go to the Petalburg Gym. Normal will be in the first room. Talk to him and he will give you the new item.

If you loaded a Battle-e card, go to the old mans house in Mossdeep City. Speak to him and he'll let you down into the basement where you will fight a new trainer.